


I'm the loser of the game you didn't know you were playing (Beetlejuice Spinel AU)

by Fand0mDumpst3r



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Abandonment Issues, Adam and Barb can go in the yard but not leave property lines., Alternate Universe, Bonding, Family, Mending friendships, Other, Plot, Songfic, Spinel AU, idk man, musical verse, slight songfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2020-11-27 21:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20955092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fand0mDumpst3r/pseuds/Fand0mDumpst3r
Summary: Lydia Deetz had a good life, She had her Dad, Her Life coach of a stepmom, and her sorta second parents Adam and Barbara. She even had a job keeping an eye on a Girl named Sky.Things are perfect for her and she hopes things don't change.But a certain demon left behind in a garden doesn't seem so happy about that.Who is he? and why does he seem Familiar?





	1. Starting with a bang.

Lydia had a good life.

She lived in a perfect house on the top of the hill with her crazy Stepmother Delia, Her stubborn father Charles Deetz, and Adam and Barbra; a sweet ghost couple in her attic. Lydia loved her weird family, Adam and Barbra were dead, but they seemed to care about her more and love her as if Lydia were their own daughter. Hell, she even had a job looking after a girl named Sky.  
Overall Lydia lived a normal life . . . Well as normal as a goth girl with ghosts living in her house could live, but nobody stopped her from living a normal life.

It was a perfect day, She was currently Hanging out with Sky, which wasn't as much as a chore as others assumed. Sky was an easy kid to look after for two dollars an hour, She was happy and bubbly, Dispite the chance of the eight year old's heart stopping at any second, Sky liked playing more active games. Lydia had introduced her to stick fighting, A game they'd play by taking two sticks off the ground and sword fighting with them. However now the two were not doing such active activities and were currently playing video games in the living room.

"SHOOT!" Sky Exclaimed bitterly as Lydia Beat her in the Racing game they were playing.

Lydia only laughed before putting down her controller. "It's not my fault You suck." Lydia teased.

Sky only childishly Crossed her Arms in response to Lydia's remark.

"Don't give me that." Lydia snickered before standing up. "You wanna see what Adam and Barb are up to?"

"Yeah!" Sky beamed.

"Whatever loser." Lydia smirked as they went up to the attic.

Oddly enough the Attic seemed empty for once, which was odd considering that even though the ghosts negotiated to at least get the small luxury of going into their yard as long as they didn't leave property lines, they still prefered to stay in the house and attic.  
However For once it seemed like they couldn't be found.

"Hey Lyddie, Look!" Sky said as she looked out the window.

Lydia went over to the window and looked outside, The usual Blue cloudless sky looked strange, Now swarmed with storm clouds and darkness. However these storm clouds seemed different, they almost seemed an odd shade of Dark grayish Green, Thunder could be heard in the distance as lightning flashed overhead.  
Lydia could see Adam and Barb in the yard, looking up worriedly at the sky.  
Lydia ran downstairs with Sky following behind her, Lydia Looked over at her father but also noticing Delia was nowhere to be found.

"Dad, where's Delia?" Lydia asked.

Charles looked up from his paper,  
"She's outside, Said something about Crystal therapy to the sky." He muttered.

Lydia groaned in annoyance before rushing outside.  
The wind howled as it rushed past everyone, a storm brewing overhead.

"Dadam Barb? what's going on?" Lydia asked, panicking.

Delia was currently holding up some sort of rock while talking some nonesense.

Adam and Barb turned to Lydia.  
"Lydia, What are you doing here?" Adam exclaimed.

"You're asking me?! what are you doing here? What's going on!?" Lydia asked, holding onto Sky's hand to keep her from running closer to the storm.

"We don't know but we need you to go inside!" Barbara exclaimed.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Lydia snapped.

Lightning flashed overhead as Charles left the house, grabbing Lydia by the arm as he sensed the danger.  
"Lydia we need to get inside." He snapped.

"What? No, I'm not going anywhere!" Lydia snapped.

"You could get hurt!" Charles snapped.

"No!" Lydia snapped, pulling her arm away.

Lightning flashed as a fog came in, the Clouds swirled and Thunder clapped loudly as the wind howled and whipped around violently.  
And then there was sudden silence as everything settled for a second.  
Then there was a sudden clap of thunder as a figure appeared on the roof above them, the fog seemed to hide the identity of the person on the roof.

Without warning the figure on the roof asked a question.  
"ARE YOU LYDIA DEETZ !?"


	2. Other Freinds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain ghost appears and things get messy.

"ARE YOU LYDIA DEETZ !?"  
the figures voice was hoarse and damaged, almost sounding like a chainsmoker.

Lydia heasitated, the figure on the highest point of the roof quickly became impatient.  
"WELL!?"

"Y yeah." Lydia answered honestly and nervously.

"Well Doesn't that work out nice?" The figure snickered, jumping down to a lower point of the roof.

Lydia looked up at the strange man on her roof.

He was dirty and unkempt, and clearly Dead. His Skin was a deathly white with moss and bits of skin flaking off his face, Dark circles surrounded his eyes as dark lines came from the bottom of his eyes, almost like they were tears. His eyes however seemed to glow a wild neon green, and his teeth could be seen to be sharp and yellow. His hair was longer and unkempt a mix between a tanish brown and a dirty moss green. He wore a wrinkled Black and white suit that had moss growing on it, underneith there was a wrinkled dark purple suit vest and button down shirt, He also wore a strange tie with a upside down broken heart on it. Everybody looked up at the dirty ghost on the roof. 

"Remember this Lydia? wanna join my up here and jump off to impale yourself on the birdbath?" The ghost taunted bitterly before noticing the others. "Oh? What do we have here? Delia, Charles, A dumb Girlscout, and . . Adam and Barbara; Sh she kept you two around. Isn't that just . . . Swell!?"

"I It can't be." Barb muttered.

The ghost on the roof chuckled.  
"Oh? But it can be, and it is! I'm back with a new style, and It is showtime."

Lydia spoke nervously and quickly.  
"W wait, there has to be some sort of mistake! I don't even know you-"

"CAN IT GOTHIE!" The ghost on the roof snapped, Interrupting Lydia. "I've had the Memories of your little game ON LOOP, I just loooove that part Where Lydia Deetz spends the rest of her days in this nowhere world WITH A BUNCH OF NOBODIES!"

The ghost jumped down with a smirk, his body moving like an old cartoon.

"That's right I heard the Story, Over and over again. Gee it's swell to finally meet her other Friends." The ghost sang as he landed perfectly on the ground.

The ghost raised a hand before bringing it down, Suddenly the ground started to move and shake, and rippled like the waves of a ocean. Everybody struggled to keep their balance on the constantly moving ground.

"That's right I heard the story, don't really like how it ends. Gee, it's swell to finally meet her other friends" 

The Ghost smirked before shapeshifting into a long snake, wrapping it's tail around Charles's ankle and pulling him up, slithering up to the roof. The snake dangled Charles off the roof by his ankle. "What did she say about me? What did she say?!"

The Ghost Dropped Charles to the Grass and shapeshifted back to his human look, Grabbing Delia by her Collar roughly. "What did you do without me? What did you do?!"

He violently threw Delia to the Ground and Quickly moved to the Maitlands. "Did you play games without me? What did you play?!" 

His face opened like a flower, revealing the bugs and Bloody mess of the inside of his face, His face closed and resumed his original look. He extended his arms and grabbed Lydia and sky, having them one inch away from his face as his mouth unhinged, allowing Snakes to crawl out and snap at them. Sky screamed as Lydia struggled Against his grip. "Did you think all this time that I wouldn't find out about you?!" 

He let go of the two girls before he Jumped back up to the roof. "Oh that's right I heard the story over and over again. Gee, it's swell to finally meet her other friends."

Charles stood up shakily.  
"The thing was only running circles around us." he hissed.

"Charles! are you okay?" Delia exclaimed as she rushed to her husband.

Adam only backed away from everything as he shook his head. "It really is him, b but he can't be serious?"

Lydia looked over at Adam and Barb as she comforted Sky.  
"You KNOW him? Can you tell us who he is?"

The ghost on the roof looked down at her with a look of pure frustration and Rage, the greens in his longer hair seemed to turn red.

"Who am I? Who am I? What are you even saying? I'm the loser of the game you didn't know you were playing!" He growled, pulling at his own hair in frustration.

He quickly regained his smirk and looked mad as he seemed to grab a Large Decorated Sledgehammer out of nowhere, and his aggressive and violent intentions were clear. "Let's play another game, this time I get to win! Lives on the line, Winner takes all, Ready or not-"

The ghost jumped and landed perfectly on the ground and held his sledgehammer, prepared to attack.

"LET'S BEGIN!"

the ghost extended his arms and spun the sledgehammer around as everybody rushed to dodge.

"Oh, that's right I heard the story over and over again! Gee, it's swell to finally beat her other friends!"

The sledgehammer seemed to shapeshift into an axe as he sliced at Charles, only succeeding at ripping his sleeve.

The ghost jumped back up to the roof and Looked down at the Maitlands below him.

"Oh, that's right I heard the story, don't really like how it ends! Gee, it's swell to finally beat her other-"

He jumped off the roof and raised his Sledgehammer, clearly aiming for the Maitlands. "Other, Ooother~"

He brought the sledgehammer down on the ghost couple

"Friends."

The Maitlands crumbled to the ground, The ghost stood over them, Bashing his Sledgehammer into Barbs Head First. It wasn't long till her head was beaten into the ground, and was nothing but a mess of crushed ghost bones and blood.

"B beetle-" Adam stammered as he looked down at his wife that was already fading into the Neitherworld to return later.

"What can I say Adam, You make Daddy so angry." The ghost hissed jokingly, before tackling Adam to the ground, and Giving the same treatment to him.

Now both of them were gone, Disappeared into the Neitherworld to return later. Even though Lydia knew they'd return, she couldn't handle what she witnessed, it wasn't fair, it was horrible. But Lydia knew what she had to do.


	3. A Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia makes a deal with a demon, she just has to remember him.

Lydia looked at the ghost who was staring at her with his dead neon green eyes.

"Y you." he hissed bitterly before taking a few steps forward.

Lydia shivered and took a step back.  
"Don't you dare come closer." Lydia muttered nervously.

"I'll do whatever I damn please Lyds." The ghost hissed. "You and I have some unfinished buisness."  
With that The ghost grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her closer to him.

"Let go of me!" Lydia snapped as she faught against the ghosts grip.

"Shut it Gothie!" He hissed, digging his longer black nails into her wrist.

"Stop it!" Lydia exclaimed, fighting against the ghosts grip as tears pricked at her eyes.  
The ghost growled before throwing her into the grass. 

"You're lucky I'm feeling generous, because I'll make a deal with ya." The ghost hissed. 

"Fine! What is it?" Lydia asked nervously.

"You see, me and you used to be close, however you have forgotten all about it. Remember me in three days breather-time and I'll let you live your boringly normal life."

"And if I don't?" Lydia challenged.

The ghost smirked. "Let's say It'll be showtime." 

Lydia nodded, confused but willing to agree. "Okay, it's a deal." She said nervously.

"Excellent, I guess I'll be on my not-so-merry way then." The ghost smirked.

He turned to leave before raising three fingers. "Three days start now, Lyds."

With that The ghost dissapeared without a trace.  
Everything seemed to have returned to normal, the sky was a normal cloudless blue once again, somone who didn't wittness it wouldn't be able to tell anything went wrong.  
Lydia looked over at her father, Charles was frozen in place, his mind trying to process what have happened and how to deal with or ignore it. Delia stood by him and only looked up at the cloudless sky, Like she expected it to open up and end the world.

"Lydia!"

Lydia looked up to find Sky running up to her. The 8 year old girl was terrified and wrapped her arms around Lydia's middle, She buried her face in Lydia's shirt. "I thought he was gonna kill you!" Sky whimpered.

Lydia sighed, "I'm fine, He's not gonna kill anyone."

Charles scoffed as he looked up at the sky.  
"I don't know who that Demon thinks he is. But he's got some nerve showing up to my house again after all this time."

Lydia looked over at her father. "You knew him?" Lydia asked.

Charles crossed his arms, "He used to live here, I'm almost glad he left as long as he did. He was a terrible influence on you." 

"Charles!" Delia hissed, slapping his arm.

"But why did he leave?" Lydia asked.

"How am I supposed to know? He just didn't come back one day!" Charles snapped. "I didn't even care that the pervert was gone, I was only stupid to think I could've been rid of him."

"Well He's back, I don't remember him but he's back. And I need to remember him or else he's gonna kill us!" Lydia snapped nervously.

"He's not gonna kill us, we just need to look in the handbook, and maybe we can get rid of him first." Charles hissed.

"No! I don't want us to kill anyone!" Lydia snapped.

"Do we have a choice!?" Charles exclaimed.

"YES! He said if I remember him He'll leave us alone." Lydia snapped.

"And how do you plan to remember someone you don't remember in 3 days? How will you work that out?" Charles challenged.

Lydia sighed,  
"I dunno, but i'll figure it out."


	4. Remembering or a final option.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are two debates on what to do about the odd ghost.  
But they better decide, they have one day left till showtime.

It was day 2 on Lydia's 3 day time limit to remember the strange demon.  
Barb and Adam came back quickly, but they were still worried and were currently trying to help Lydia come up with a plan.

"Do you remember his songs? or your father's dinner party fiasco?" Barb asked, trying to encourage a memory.

"No, I don't. Should I?" Lydia asked.

"I don't even think you could remember him if you tried, He changed so much. I don't Even know where he's been." Adam muttered.

"That and I don't remember him actually physically killing anyone in the past." Barbara nodded, crossing her arms.

"But who is he? what's his name?" Lydia asked.

"He's Beetlejuice, whatever you do don't say his name three times in a row." Adam warned. "We all used to be friends, but I guess that is over now." He sighed almost sadly.

Lydia nodded. "so, what are we gonna do about him? I don't remember anything, and we have one day left!" 

"I think we'll have to kill him or fight him." Barbara sighed.

"No, we are not killing anyone! we'll figure it out." Adam snapped.

"Adam, we don't have any other options." Barbara pointed out.

"Listen, If we fight him we need to know his weaknesses, you two got any ideas?" Lydia asked.

"Well I thought I was, but that has easily been proven otherwise." Adam sighed.  
Barb nodded in agreement.

"He hates Sandworms." Barbra pointed out.

"No, He had sandy in the past." Adam muttered.

"So what are we gonna do?" Lydia asked.

"I don't think we will be able to do anything, If you aren't remembering him now, we can't really force you to remember him." Barbara sighed.

"So we are all gonna die, ain't that just fantastic." Lydia scoffed sarcastically.

"We're not gonna die, we'll figure something out." Adam said, placing a hand on Lydia's shoulder.

X-----------------------------------------------------------X

Delia was in her Art studio, Organizing her art supplies for the 3rd time to clear her head. Charles was pacing around behind her, frantically flipping through the pages of the handbook of the recently deceased.

"There is absolutely nothing in here to help!" Charles hissed as he slammed the book shut.

"But what was Beej thinking coming back? Why does he look like that of all things?" Delia huffed as she was organizing her paintbrushes by size.

"How am i supposed to know?! I'm not some sort of ghost expert!" Charles snapped.  
Delia sighed,

"Well I'll tell you one thing, That sure as heck wasn't the friendly demon Lydia and I used to draw with!"

"He was a pervert Delia, nothing was good about him back then, and he is absolutely no good now." Charles said bitterly.

"Listen Charles, I don't like what happened either, I don't like the situation, but we shouldn't kill him right off the bat." Delia sighed, looking up at her husband.

"Delia, we have one day left and time is ticking, we are running out of time and options." Charles sighed.

"Maybe we can reason with him or negotiate but I don't want to go with such a negative option." Delia explained.

"How many times do I have to say we might not have a choice!" Charles exclaimed.

Delia looked at the ground and sighed.  
"I simply don't agree with you."

"I never said you had to, I'm just saying it's our final option." Charles muttered.

Delia turned away from him and continued to organize art supplies.  
"And I don't agree with that."


	5. The final countdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam is only minutes away from showtime.

Adam sighed as he looked up at the sky, there were 15 minutes until time was up and for once he was more scared than he's ever been.  
He had an old broom from the attic in hand, he didn't know what he was thinking bringing a broom outside with him. What was he gonna do? Beat a demon to death with a broom?

_ <strike>10 minutes left . . .</strike> _

Barb came outside and stood by her husband.  
"how much longer do we have?"

adam sighed

"10 minutes and soon to be 9." Adam sighed.  
Barbara looked at Adam, 

"You don't want to fight him do you."  
"I don't exactly plan to, I just want to talk to him if I get a chance." Adam sighed.  
"He doesn't care about us anymore, but if you think it'll work and I hope it does." Barb muttered. "Then give it your best shot."

Adam nodded and wrapped an arm around Barbara,  
"I hope it works too."

_ <strike>3 minutes left. . .</strike> _

Adam continued to stare up at the sky.

Clouds started to take form and turn a dark Grey, the wind picked up, lighting flashed overhead as the sky continued to darken.  
Adam tightened his grip on his broom. This was probably a stupid Idea.

_ <strike>2 minutes and 15 sec</strike> _

Should he really be doing this? He probably should've gotten a frying pan instead of a broom.

The sky above Adam was dark, the clouds were now an odd shade of a greenish grey. The wind had picked up and nearly knocked Adam over, the clouds inn the sky started to swirl as a storm appeared to build up.

_ <strike>1 minute left. . .</strike> _

There was only seconds between Adam and the Demon.  
Adam tried to decide what could've happened to his old friend, Adam remembered when Beetlejuice didn't come back. He had said nothing until three weeks passed, then he asked Lydia where he went, Adam thought she knew since she and the demon were best friends for some time. She had said she didn't know, But Adam didn't believe her. However as time passed, Adam had to admit he had kinda forgotten about Beetlejuice. 

Well . . . until three days ago.

_ <strike>30 seconds left. . .</strike> _

Adam looked at the sky, only counting down the seconds.

_ <strike>25 seconds . . .</strike> _

_ <strike>20 Seconds. . .</strike> _

_ <strike>15 Seconds . . .</strike> _

_ <strike>10 Seconds . . .</strike> _

_ <strike>5 Seconds . . .</strike> _

_ <strike>4 Seconds . .</strike> _

Adam sighed, closing his eyes, the final moments ticked away.

_ <strike>2 Seconds. . .</strike> _


	6. It's Showtime

"TIMES UP!!"

Adam looked up at the roof and sighed as the familiar figure materialized on the roof, Beetle had his sledgehammer from their last meeting.

Adam sighed.  
"Oh, when a difficult day goes by . . . Keeping it together is hard but that's why, You gotta try, you gotta try."

Beej looked down at him from the roof, Growling in annoyance

"And when there's a thundering storm outside, Underneath the covers you huddle and hide"

The demon jumped down from the roof, his sledgehammer raised as he aimed for Adam. Adam only looked up at him and stepped aside from the attack.

"Open your eyes, Open your eyes."

He looked over at his abandoned friend.

"It's the truuue, It's the truuue. It's the truuue kinda love."

Beej Growled as he swung at Adam with his sledgehammer, A smirk was on his face. Adam raised his broom and blocked him.

"Stuck, In the middle of fear and shame. Everybody's looking for someone to blame."

The demon growled, almost overpowering Adam, but Adam fought against it the best he could.

"Like it's a game, Like it's a game."

Beej hissed and knocked Adam to the ground, and raised his sledgehammer; Adam only rolled to the side, dodging him and getting to his feet, and hit Beej over the head with his broom. Beej growled and shapeshifted his hand into claws, Slashing at Adam. Adam only took a step to the side and Grabbed Beej's wrist, stopping the demon from making his intended action.

"And now I am better than "win-or-lose." There's a new direction that I'd like to choose."

Beej easily got out of Adam's grip and shapeshifted his other hand into claws and slashed at Adam, only causing a few small cuts on Adams face, Adam Kicked Beej backwards. Beej Growled and kicked off the ground allowing him to levitate, floating higher and higher off the ground, seemingly deciding his next move. Adam Kicked off the ground to float to Beej's level.

"It's called the truth, It's called the truth."

Beej hissed and attempted to knock Adam out of the air with his sledgehammer, Adam dodged and moved to the side and looked down at Beej. Beej lunged at Adam, abandoning his sledgehammer for a moment. Adam sighed and put his hands out in front of him, Seemingly stopping Beej from coming closer, Adams hands were on the demons shoulders. 

Adam sighed and looked into Beej's Neon Green eyes.  
"Hey, you, show me that solvable problem, We can get through this. I'll do the hardest part with you."

Beej's expression softened for a minute, Before it returned to It's previous mad expression. Beej kicked Adam Backwards, causing the other ghost to be knocked out of the air and down to the lawn below. Once Adam hit the ground Beej collected his sledgehammer and landed perfectly on the roof.

"HEY YOU!"

Beej turned around to look at Lydia who was now on the roof looking at him. She had brought an old shovel with her to defend herself, she had probably taken it from the garage.

"Time is long past up." Beetlejuice Growled, tightening his grip on his sledgehammer.

"I DON'T CARE, I just wanna talk!" Lydia exclaimed


	7. Breaking down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight between old best friends result in sympathy

Beej scoffed,  
"Talk? HA, that isn't an option Deetz!"

Lydia frowned,  
"Listen, Something happened and I wanna know what."

The demon growled,  
"Oh, you don't know? YOU DON'T KNOW!?" 

Lydia Flinched at the demon's words,  
"Listen, just let me know what I did! I'll fix it, I promise!"

"Fix it? FIX IT!? YOU CAN'T FIX THIS!" The demon snapped.

Lydia sighed,  
"I will make a promise, I can make a plan, I can make a difference, I can take a stand. I can make an effort, If I only understand. That IIIIIII."

Beej lunged at her, Lydia quickly used her shovel to block him.

"I can make a change."

Beej overpowered her and shapeshifted his hand to claws, slashing at her. Lydia took the hit across the arm as she turned to get away, Beej shapeshifted into a snake and wrapped his tail around her ankle, tossing her a little further across the roof. He shapeshifted back into his normal look before trying to attack Lydia with his sledgehammer. Lydia blocked the Demon's attack with her shovel and kicked him back slightly. Beej growled as the ground around him burst into flames, and his arms extended and his hands became claws as he slashed at Lydia over and over again. Lydia dodged over and over again, avoiding the Demon's burning claws. She eventually swung her shovel and easily got the Demon's hands away from her. 

The demon growled and grabbed the shovel and tried to wrestle it away from Lydia before kicking her backwards across the roof. Lydia let go of her shovel as she fell backwards, she rolled to the side to avoid being stabbed with her shovel. She ran to the far side of the roof, Beej only extended his arm and grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back to the middle of the roof. Lydia struggled against his grip, eventually grabbing his wrist and digging her nails into his wrist. He let go of her and Lydia looked up at him. Beej's hands were litterally on fire and his agressive and violent demeanor would've scared anyone else, but Lydia wasn't exactly afraid or shocked, it all felt oddly familiar in an odd way.

Lydia sighed and looked the demon in the eye.  
"You can make this different, You can make it right! You can make it better! We don't have to fight!"

The demon looked at her, not even moving, just staring for a moment.

Lydia took a step forward.  
"You can make an effort, Starting with tonight. 'Cause yooouuu."

Beej snapped out of it and grabbed his sledgehammer.

Lydia took a few steps back  
"You can make a change."

"SHUT UP GOTHIE!"

Without warning Beej started running towards her, sledgehammer in hand. He raised his sledgehammer and brought it down onto the roof, the roof crumbled beneath them. Opening up and causing them to fall into the attic through the ceiling.  
Lydia opened her eyes and sat up, there was a hole broken straight through the roof, and she was on the attic floor, thankfully in one peice without any broken bones. Lydia quickly noticed beej in front of her, he was shaking with rage.

"All that Change stuff is Easy for you to say, 'when you change you change for the better~'. **WHEN I CHANGE I CHANGE FOR THE WORST!"** The demon Roared, raising his sledgehammer. 

Lydia scrambled to hide under a table, But it didn't take long for her to hear the demons weapon impact the tabletop above her.

**"I used to be not good enough, just not good enough for you. But no, NO."** the demon hit the table over her with every word. **"I'M NOT GOOD AT ALL!"**

with one final hit the table broke over Lydia, the Beetle's sledgehammer just barely missed her. The sounds of his broken almost distressed laughter caused Lydia to look up at him. Tears streaked his white face and ran over the odd tear like lines on his face.

"It's f funny right?" The demon fell to his knees. "A at least you found me entertaining. Y you actually liked me back then didn't you?"

Lydia didn't know what else to do, but her head seemed to move on it's own accord and nod.

"W what am I doing? Why do I wanna hurt you so bad? I'm supposed to be your friend, I just wanted to be your friend." The demon choked out as he buried his face in his hands.

The demon seemed to show a new personality, soft, sensitive, and hurt.

"Lydia! I came as fast as I coul-"  
Lydia looked up and saw Adam in the Doorway with Barb behind him.

Beetle looked up and turned to look at the ghost couple.

Adam only stared back for a minute, before he spoke  
"Y you Okay Beej?"

Beej looked at him quietly, confused and startled almost, but still fragile.  
the demon opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out, He closed his mouth and looked at the ground.

_What did they even expect him to say?_


	8. A warm yet Unwarm welcome.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad memories

Beetlejuice was alone, well not alone but everyone else was in another room and he was sternly told to stay in the Attic while everybody discussed things downstairs.

Beej stood up as he still found himself hiccuping and gasping as tears rolled down his face. He looked around the room, his vision blurred but he could still see his surroundings. Things were covered in rubble and dust from the roof he had broken through, but everything still stayed the same. Old, but clean, and very vanilla. Beej Looked at the model town that Adam had been working on since forever. It was still there, creative, plain, yet fascinating. Beej could never fathom how a human or ghost could sit still for so long and work on a project, But Beetle could understand the determination, for he once had that dedication for something he never wanted to let go of or finish. But that was all bullshit to him now, waiting in a garden killed that dedication and hope.

Beej approached the table with the model town and kneeled next to it, looking at the all the tiny houses and trees and people. 

A feeling filled His senses, an odd mix of anxiety and nostalgia as he wondered how everything was going downstairs. But he thought of what everyone was saying, probably planning to get rid of him or call an exorcist, then loneliness again, with nobody around, and alone . . . . In silence . . . . and false promises. He instinctively grabbed at his longer hair for a feeling of comfort or stability. His hair once short and brown and green gradient was now long and an odd grayish tan color but still kept the green gradient.  
The thoughts of everything seemed to close in on him, the Idea of being alone again, the thought of what they were saying, the fear, dread, and anxiety filled his veins as he still kept a tight grip on his own hair, before he knew it he had small chunks of hair in his fists. He had started pulling his hair out a few days ago, when he discovered everybody had gone on without without him, when he discovered how he was left behind. 

"Beetle we want to talk to you-" Adam paused mid sentence, at the scene in front of him, the demon in tears and had chunks of his own hair in his hands.

Adam said nothing as he approached the demon kneeled and hunched over by the table, Adam put a hand on his shoulder. Beej flinched away, almost like Adam was a threat.

Adam sighed, "Beej . . ."

Beetlejuice shivered and looked away.

"Beej, they want to talk to you." Adam said softly.

The demon looked up at him with still teary eyes.  
"Th they do?"

Adam nodded.  
"Yeah, do you want to talk to them? You don't have to if you don't want to-"

"N no, I'll talk." Beej said quickly, wiping tears from his own eyes and letting the chunks of his hair he had ripped out fall on the floor.

Adam nodded and Beej followed him out of the attic, walking through the halls gave a sorta welcomed sense of nostalgia. The halls were similar to how he remembered them, just different photos hung on the walls and slightly different wallpaper. He would've been happy to be back if it weren't for the circumstances; the circumstances being Lydia not remembering him, Him not being gone then because he was left behind, and him coming back and breaking through the roof.  
they approached the Kitchen where there was nervous chatter from the Deetz's and Barbara, however it went silent when Beej and Adam entered. Charles looked like he wanted to strangle him, Delia appeared nervous but willing to be polite, Lydia was nervous and stood close to Barb and had Barbara's arm around her shoulders.

"So Mr. Beetlejuice, we were considering that since your . . . well quick turnaround-" Delia started.

Barb interrupted.  
"Look something clearly happened to you and Lydia, Adam and I don't really want to leave you to deteriorate any further." 

Beej was confused, Deteriorate? Is that what happened to him? Did he just fall apart? Was he broken? Not 'fun' anymore? Did his breakdown really give off that impression?

"Beej?" Adam said quietly, Beej quickly snapped back to reality.

Adam placed a hand on the demon's shoulder.  
"Are you-?" 

"I'm fine." Beej said quickly.

Barbara continued.  
"The three of us were wondering. Do you . . . want to stay here?" 

The dark green in Beej's longer hair suddenly brightened and he seemed to perk up a bit. Stay? Here? But was it a trick to get rid of him later? He had been tricked in a similar manner twice before. Beej quickly put those thoughts out of mind as he thought of a response.

"I...." He paused, considering how this might be a sham, but he ignored it, knowing what he wanted.

"Y yes, I wanna stay." Beej said quickly and quietly.

Adam looked at him,  
"Are you sure?"

"Y yeah." Beej said a little louder this time.

Charles scoffed.  
"You've got some nerve, but there will be rules."

Beej nodded, surprised by how easy it was to be accepted in.

"First: No Leaving the Property unless your 'Invisible', I don't want anyone seeing you outside or associating you with us." Charles muttered.

Beej's brighter green hair quickly darkened as he nodded solemnly.

"Second: If anything, and I mean ANYTHING Happens to Lydia, Even If a hair is out of place on her head. I will get rid of you without hesitation." Charles said seriously. "And Finally-"

"Charles I think he gets the picture." Delia said quietly, Interupting him.

Charles nodded, but still stared Beej down threateningly.

Beetle shuddered under his gaze but nodded.  
"I understand, th thanks."

Charles scoffed and shoved past Beej and Adam, Delia followed him quickly and Quietly.  
Now it was only the Maitlands, Beej, and Lydia. It was a stiff awkward silence for a few minutes.

Barbara looked at Beej softly.  
"Where have you been?"

Beej stiffened, nervous as he seemed to space out of reality slightly, almost like he was reliving a terrible memory.  
"I . . . . ."

_ <strike>*|-|€r€ !n th€ G@rd€n*</strike> _

"I I was . . ."

_ <strike>*Pl@¥ @ G@m€*</strike> _

Adam looked at him quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder.  
"Beetle, are you okay?"

_ <strike>*$t@nd v€r¥ $t!ll*</strike> _

"I was alone." Beej said quickly, nearly spitting out the words.

Barbara seemed confused.  
"But where have you-"

Adam raised a hand, signalling Barbara to stop talking.

Barbara fell silent but still looked at Beej.  
Beej stared at the ground, going Backwards a few steps.

Adam grabbed his wrist,  
"You didn't say anything wrong, I promise." He said softly.

Beej shook his head and practically ran away from the others. Leaving to think of haunting memories elsewhere.


	9. A paper and ink garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beej has time to think, and delia lightens his mood.

The house hadn't changed much. It still had the same Wallpaper, paint, furniture, rugs, and flooring. However the pictures on the wall and art pieces Delia kept around had changed, Beetlejuice walked through the house over and over, what else was there to do? he was practically on house arrest.  
Beej obayed the rules for once, he kinda had to since he didn't want to risk abandonment. He couldn't afford to be all alone again with nothing but silence and himself. He would've cloned himself for company like he used to do but when he would summon them they'd just stand still. they wouldn't sing or act in a way he wanted to, hell they wouldn't even speak. His power was mostly a mystery for him but he still knew that his clones where supposed to do something and not just stand still. Since then he hadn't tried to summon his clones or anything else for that matter.

Beetle continued to wonder through the house until he noticed light coming from a room he remembered well. The color, smell of paint and ink, and overwhelming positivity that radiated off the room. Delia's art studio, He had fond memories of that room. Drawing with Lydia was one of the many reasons that he stayed in the Garden for so long, he believed that He would get those times back if he was patient, but he knew now that was bullshit.  
He entered the bright room, welcoming the feeling of happy nostalgia. The art studio used to be his favorite room, it still was in a way. Beej looked around the room, there were new paintings, sketches, and ugly sculptures lying around. He had to admit Delia was always better at drawing and painting than sculpting, she could sculpt if she had a reference, but from memory was always kinda a no go.  
The studio was dead silent, only the sound of a brush against a paper canvas, and the quiet Humming. Delia was in the corner with her canvas, a new painting of something different.  
Beetlejuice approached her quietly, the floor creaking under his footsteps.

Delia jumped slightly before turning around to look at him,  
"Oh, it's you Beetlejuice."

She smiled  
"Are you settling in okay?"

"Ye yeah." Beetlejuice lied.

"I know that face BJ." Delia said, turning back to her painting "Your hair gives it away."

Beej nodded, his hair darkening even more than it's previous purple.

"Where have you been?" Delia asked.

Beej froze, he didn't even blink, he didn't speak.  
Where has he been? A garden in the Neitherworld, but for how long? He didn't know, he didn't understand how quickly seconds and hours and weeks slipped away. And for what? Just to end up here, a place where he had gone too far. Had he gone too far? Broken? Defective? Useless?

"Beej, are you okay?" Delia asked.

Beej crossed his arms.  
"I'm fine." He lied.

Delia sighed and put her paintbrush down.  
"Lawrence, What happened to you?" 

Beej shuddered at his real name.

"Can you give me a hint? Show me?" Delia asked.

Beej looked at the ground silently.

Delia sighed and turned back to her painting.

"Would you send me back?" Beej asked in a conserned tone of voice.

"What?" Delia looked up confused.

"Would you get bored of me? Would you send me back to the Neitherworld?" BJ asked, his hair darkening from purple to blue.

"Why would I ever do that?" Delia asked, "Was it something Charles said?"

"It's just . . ." Beej muttered. "It's just that you asked where I was."

Delia looked confused but also slightly conserned of what he ment by that.  
"Well . . . I'm not going anywhere for now." Delia said.

Beej's hair brightened slightly.

Delia smiled at the change of color.  
"You wanna sit and draw with me? . . . Y'know like old times?"

Beej's hair quickly jumped from Navy Blue to a swampy green, a good improvement.  
"Y yeah." he stuttered, giving a small smile, looking rather sweet for having sharp teeth.

Delia stood up and opened a cabinet and pulled out an old notebook.

Beej's hair brightened, although he looked confused.  
"You . . . Kept the old notebook you gave me?" Beej asked.

Delia Nodded and smiled.  
"Of course! you think I'd throw art away?"

Beej smirked and shook his head.  
"I shouldn't have doubted it."

Delia handed Him the Notebook and a pencil.  
"You still have that creative mind of yours?" she asked smiling.

Beej looked down at the Notebook that was being handed to him, he smiled softly.  
"Of course I do."


End file.
